Following his meeting with Cabinet officials Monday morning, President Barack Obama told reporters he is “extraordinarily proud of the quality of this Cabinet.”

Obama told reporters that he had praised his Cabinet secretaries in the meeting and instructed them to “consolidate, streamline and improve” their agencies in order to save taxpayer money.

Obama touted savings from practices such as video-conferencing at the Department of Veterans Affairs, consolidating office branches at the Department of Agriculture and purchasing office supplies in bulk at the Department of Homeland Security.

He also singled out Defense Secretary Robert Gates for unveiling a “historic” defense budget that envisions deep reforms in the Pentagon’s procurement process.

Challenged on the comparatively small size of his cuts, Obama said “cumulatively” the cuts make a difference, because “it sets a tone.”

“What we're gonna do, line by line and page by page, $100 million here, $100 million there, pretty soon, even in Washington, it adds up to real money,” Obama said.